Warming Up!

Warming Up!
Starting 2011 as a team.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Ko wai tō ingoa? Ko Rockets matou.


Our first attempt at voice thread! We would love you to comment.

We have been learning how to greet each using Te Reo Māori. We can ask each other "What is your name?" which is "Ko wai tō ingoa?" and reply "My name is ........" , "Ko ........ ahau."

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

What's a blog?

The Rockets were so impressed with Gina from Point View School, and the way that she explained what a blog is. Take a look here.

Here are our thoughts:



Rieff on "What is a blog?" from MissRevell on Vimeo.


Monday, September 19, 2011

Go the Irish!


The Rockets are very proud of the Irish Rugby Team, after their momentous win against Australia on Saturday night. We are learning about Ireland while the Rugby World Cup is being played in New Zealand. 

We know that their national colour is green, that their flag has orange, white and green stripes and that they have Leprechauns running around in their countryside! We thought it was quite funny when we learned that Ireland is an island.
We love trying to spot Leprechauns on the Leprechaun Watch website.

Marilena brought this picture that she drew over the weekend. Isn't it fabulous!

Friday, September 16, 2011

Magic Tree Marvels

The Rockets learn high frequency words using a fun learning system called "The Magic Tree." This was devised by the Junior Syndicate Leader at Maraekakaho School, Ms Chris White. 

Today, Ayden and Ethan were  Super Star learners. They passed their "Strawberry" spelling words, which means they get a ladybird to put on the Magic Tree in our classroom. Mr Jones, our Principal, was really thrilled with the persistence they have shown in their learning. He has taken their picture and put it up in a frame in his office. Here is the picture that he has put up. 

The Rockets are really proud of Ethan and Ayden. Marvin can't stop smiling. Ka pai boys!

What did you persist at this week?

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Habits of Mind in Action!

Maraekakaho School uses the Habits of Mind as the foundation upon which we place our learning. We are always referring to them throughout our school environment. 
 These are the some Habits that the Rockets use, in "Rocket speak."

The Habits of Mind are a collection of 16 thinking dispositions identified by Professor Art Costa. Costa defined the Habits of Mind as the dispositions skillfully and mindfully displayed by characteristically intelligent people when confronted with problems the solutions to which are not immediately apparent. The Habits of Mind are not thinking tools, rather they are dispositions that inclines one to adopt a thinking tools and strategies.

 Here is Professor Costa explaining the Habits:


This is from some clever kids, posted on You Tube from http://dinorita.edublogs.org/ 



What Habits have you used today?


Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. See Terms of use for details.http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Quad Blogging


The Rockets are excited to be part of the Quad Blogging project.
This project involves 4 schools each with a class blog. The schools take it in turns in a 4 week cycle to be the focus of the other 3 schools. These schools visit the blog of the focus school to respond to posts, leave comments and generally learn about school life and students in different places.
Visit the Quad Blog website for more details:
The 3 other school that make up the Quad with the Rockets are:
Room 3 and Mrs Nelson from Craigburn Primary School in Australia.
Room 1 and Mrs McKenzie from Hamilton East School - NZ.
Year 3 and Miss Donacien from Wix Primary in England.



Mrs Yollis' Grade 3 class in California are experts at blogging. Watch their their presentation on how they learn from their experiences with blogging. 

What have you learnt about blogging from watching this?

Friday, September 9, 2011

MKK celebrates the RWC 2011



Wow! What an exciting day we had today! MKK was buzzing with the excitement of the forthcoming Rugby World Cup. We were able to choose to come to school dressed supporting our favourite team. Who do you think most of us chose!? Let's go ALL BLACKS!

Who do you predict will win the Rugby World Cup?

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Thanks for the comments!

The Rockets would like to thank Mrs Laburn and our friends in Room 3 at Point View School, for the time that they spent commenting on our blog today. We loved reading out the comments and discussing them afterwards. We hope to get some time tomorrow to reply to some of you!

Have you seen this fantastic poster made by our friends at 2KM and 2KJ at Leopold Primary School in Victoria, Australia? There are some great criteria for comments to follow here. They also have a great post on their class blog on how to comment. Go on, take a responsible risk and make a comment! Just have a go, we would love to hear from you!


We love comments on our blog! from MissRevell on Vimeo

What would you like to comment on?

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

The Enchanted Forest

MKK was very lucky today to be treated to a performance of "The Enchanted Forest" performed by the amazing team at The Magic Play House.

Their website describes The Enchanted Forest as:
"... essentially a 'Rock concert' for children! It showcases catchy original music, partnered with life like puppets of animals that can be found in the New Zealand bush. 
Old Tuatara M.C's the concert in rhyme, and is a part that would be most effectively played by a teacher, with children performing the Kiwi's, Pukeko's, Slippery eels and Bell Frog's."



 Wow! What a brilliant show... we loved it! Thanks to everyone at The Magic Playhouse.


 Who was your favourite character today?


The Frog, because when he jumped he looked like he was doing a dance. Giulietta

I liked the rat because he was trying to sneak some eggs. Ryan

I liked the kiwi because he was beating up the rat to save its precious babies. Nataliya

I liked the snake because it slithers around and it looks like an "S'. Sam

I liked the rat because those black bands looked like sunglasses. Lorna

The rat is really frustrated with the possum because the possum is to slow to get the eggs. Cora

The green bird was my favourite because it farted on the nasty rat and his eggs. Rieff

My favourite was the Kiwi because it lives in New Zealand and it has a sparkly, shiny hard beak. Marilena

The Kiwi was soft and smooth. At the end of the show the Kiwi was funny when it was fighting the rat and it jumped out of the tree. Max

The frogs are funny when they sing. They sound like little mice squeaking loudly. Ethan

The little tinsy bird was my favourite because when the possum said "I will look after your eggs" the bird knew that he was lying. Ayden


Friday, September 2, 2011

Lanson's Dad's RWC Jerseys



The Rockets very excited today to have Lanson from the MTs come in and show them his Dad's RWC jerseys. We very interested to learn about the RWC in 1999, which was before we were born! It was so amazing to see the real jerseys and see how big they were. Did you know that some of the jerseys haven't even been washed! We are so excited about the RWC in 2011. Go ALL BLACKS!


Which is your favourite team?

Lanson and his Dad's RWC shirts from MissRevell on Vimeo.

















Here is Lanson's Dad, Taine leading the Haka.